Our quest to find the missing Hudholm citizens began in Dabia. Teleporting through the Thief’s Corridor made travel easy. A quick trip through the sewers and we were ready to be seen by King Thomas.

When we arrived at the castle, we were met by a familiar face. The groundsman looked me up and down before sneering at us. “I don’t recall sending for a chambermaid.”

I chuckled at him and replied. “That was just a disguise. My name is Melvin and we are here to see the king.”

“What makes you think you can just walk in the front door and demand an audience?” Rolfe asked.

Kalli stepped forward, mimicking a smile I was used to from her mother. “Would it help if The Queen of Celestea requested the audience?”

“It would,” Rolfe responded. “Were the queen here.”

Kalli sighed and introduced herself. “My name is Kalliphae Celestea Murphy, heir and rightful Queen of Celestea. King Thomas will acknowledge me. Please inform him that I wish to speak with him.”

Rolfe looked over his shoulder before shaking his head. “No, I’m sorry. More proof is necessary than just your word for me to disturb the king.”

“Are you saying that the king refuses to see his people when they wish to speak with him?” Kalli asked incredulously.

The way Rolfe looked down on us made me all but positive that the king refused to see anyone that didn’t come equipped with a noble title. It probably didn’t help that the last time he saw us, we were mucking out nobles' bedside commodes. “Come back when you have proof that you are someone of importance. Until then, these doors shall remain closed.”

Without giving either of us a chance to reply, he slammed the door shut.

DELETE

Rolfe gaped at me as the door he had just shut vanished without a trace. I grinned at him. “Is that enough proof for you?”

We got our audience with the king along with what I decided to call an honor guard. Armed knights marched on either side of us as we wound our way up to the second floor of the castle.

Kalli glared at me. You know, Melvin, there was a diplomatic way of dealing with that!

I shrugged at her, forcing myself to not laugh out loud.

What? He asked for proof. I hear it’s called forceful negotiation.

King Thomas’s eyes widened when we arrived. He waved off the guards and said, “That won’t be necessary.”

Rolfe stamped his foot when the guards turned to leave. “But, your majesty, these two…”

“That will be enough, Rolfe.” The King cut him off. “Leave us.”

The groundsman paused to glare at us before pulling the doors closed, leaving us alone with the king and his attendants. Giving us a weary look, he turned and sat on the throne. “I take it you’ve come to talk about the Hellquists? I assure you, we intend to forfeit their land and titles. It was brought to my attention that she visited you. If there is any…”

“It’s not about that.” Kalli interrupted.

King Thomas stared at her for a few minutes before continuing. “Ah, I see. The queen explained to me that the past incident with the contract is in the past. You do not mean to…”

“It’s not about that either.” Kalli cut him off again. “Also, please understand that I am the queen. My mother is just an advisor. I don’t see any reason to bring up the contract. I am fully aware of the fact that you were enthralled by Lady Mardella when you purchased it, so I won’t hold it against you. I am here to ask you about the citizens of Hudholm Summit and what you did with them.”

The King was at a loss for the moment. “Which citizens? I do not believe I am familiar with Hudholm Summit.”

“You should be,” I replied. “It’s part of your kingdom, isn’t it?”

One of the advisors whispered in the king’s ear and he nodded. “Oh, yes. The mining colony. That town was evacuated after an incident with trolls. I am told there was an attack.”

I was forced to laugh, earning me a look of reproach from the king. “Do you mean when Lady Mardella attacked and kidnapped Wendy? We just want to know where you evacuated the people.”

King Thomas turned to ask a whispered question. We waited patiently while he received a reply. Then he cleared his throat and said, “Alas, we do not have any information about that as Lady Mardella gave the order.”

Kalli and I exchanged a look. Knowing what I wanted to do, she shook her head and turned back to the king. “Do you know if they were relocated within your kingdom?”

The King turned to his attendant and nodded. The man then spoke to us directly. “We can’t say with any certainty where the citizens were reassigned to. The Purple Lady was secretive about where she placed resources. While it’s completely possible that they were assigned to one of the other camps or townships, Lady Mardella could have also reassigned them to the high house or other nations.”

We can solve this by just asking her.

Kalli shook her head again, not meeting my eyes. Absolutely not! We aren’t talking to her unless we exhaust all other options.

It took me a few minutes to think about it while Kalli grilled the attendant. Then an idea hit me.

We can ask Alariel. She is Lady Mardella’s daughter, after all. She might know something. Besides, didn’t Kiki say she was going back to the high house with her? If Guinny is there, she might know.

Kalli stopped talking mid-sentence and turned to me. How do we get in touch with them? They left the group when you went back to Earth.

I guess we will have to go there.

Returning her attention to the king, Kalli put on her diplomatic smile. “King Thomas, how does one travel to the high house? We would like to pay Melvin’s sister a visit.”

I was on a boat and loving it. The same couldn’t be said for Kalli. She looked miserable. I held her hair back as she puked over the side of the boat for the third time. When she came up for air, she gasped. I really hate boats. You need to figure out a way for us to fly back.

The wheels in my brain were already turning.

I can send you home once we’re done with Kiki. You know, the same way I sent you back to Gaia in the first place. With any luck, you’ll end up in the castle. Even if you end up in that village or the monastery, it will be easy to get home from there.

Stop talking! Kalli groaned in my ear as she continued to retch. I’m trying to focus on not being sick and your voice is making it worse!

As I stood over her, I began to wonder if there was anything I could do for Kalli more than just hold her hair and tell her I hoped she felt better. I had cured cancer after all. Putting on my doctor’s hat, I took out the M-Phone.

NO SERVICE - OUT OF SERVICE AREA

I fumbled through the preloaded apps until I came to a medical encyclopedia.

LOADING - MEDIMANCERSAURUS (FREE VERSION)

I clicked through the loading screens.

THIS APP WOULD LIKE TO SEND YOUR LEVEL INFORMATION TO THE DEVELOPER FOR QUALITY PURPOSES

NO!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO UPGRADE TO THE FULL VERSION? (1 GOLD)

NO!

I wondered if muggle phones had so many popups. I’d likely never know because I’d never owned one. Once the app finally loaded, I looked up information on seasickness.

SEASICKNESS (Also known as motion sickness)

The sickness originates in the inner ear where the balance mechanism in all humanoid beings resides. Caused by the vessel’s erratic movement up and down as well as side to side while the room itself remains relatively motionless. Mixed signals are sent to the brain causing the release of stress-related hormones that can cause nausea, vomiting, and vertigo.

Since I had a place to start, I pushed my mana into Kalli’s ear. She gurgled at me as she tried to both vomit and chastise me through mate chat at the same time. Melvin, stop that! It feels weird.

I pressed on while explaining what I was trying to do.

Give me a second. I think I can help with your sickness.

Kalli dry-heaved and tried to catch her breath but didn’t stop me. The first thing I noticed was that no mana flowed through her ears. Before I continued, I checked my ears and found my mana channels there.

The first thing I needed to do was redirect Kalli’s mana so that it matched mine. At least for the ears in any case. It was a relatively easy task. I added a slight detour as her mana passed by them anyways. As I traced her mana, I noticed that while it flowed all through her brain, eyes, and mouth, it had bypassed her nose and ears.

Once I connected her ears, something changed in Kalli. She paused for a second and tested her body. Realizing she no longer felt the need to be sick, she sat up and kissed me on the cheek. Wow, what a difference. I feel light on my feet.

I wanted to be grossed out because she was just throwing up but I was too focused on her mana to worry about it. Using my body as a guide, I followed her mana through her body, making adjustments when it missed important body parts.

Kalli squirmed in my arms with her eyes shut as she traced what I was doing with her mind’s eye. It was a little awkward when I got to certain areas but Kalli didn’t stop me so I finished by making sure our mana channels matched completely.

When I pulled back, Kalli was staring at me in wonder. Do you always feel like this?

I wanted to understand what she meant but she felt the same to me as she always had.

I don’t know. You feel normal to me.

She smiled and stood, taking a deep breath. Can you smell it? The sea has its own smell and it makes a sound like a song. I also feel so…so…um, good. That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s almost like I’ve been asleep all this time and now I’ve awakened. Do you think that’s why they call magic people awakened?

So many thoughts swirled through my head. Had Kalli’s mana channels been stunted? Was I special? The only way to tell would be to do the same experiment on somebody else.

Kalli, do you think Kiki or Alariel would want…

Kalli shook her head and giggled. No! You’re only allowed to experiment on me. No other girls.

I raised an eyebrow at her.

Then boys?

She laughed. Why? Did you want to?

It was my turn to shake my head.

No! You’re the only one for me.

Kalli sat next to me again, her sickness long forgotten. Good!

We both gaped at the sight before us. An active volcano stood on the horizon. That wasn’t the impressive part. Between cascades of lava that flowed down the sheer walls of the summit stood glamorous buildings nestled in between them.

“The high house.” A voice behind us announced.

I turned to see the captain of the ferry. He was a grizzled old man that I would have expected to see on one of those dangerous job shows back on Earth. “You kids are lucky. Not many are granted permission to even see this place, let alone visit. I’ve been making this run daily for the last twenty years and this is the first time I’ve ever transported anyone.

I whistled when I looked at the lava flow dangerously close to one of the structures. “Why would they build so close to a volcano? Aren’t they worried about what might happen when it erupts?”

“Hah!” The man laughed. “I thought you were magical. Those mages up there aren’t worried about anything that good ol Gaia can dish out. From what I’ve heard they feed on that thing like leeches. Suck the life right out of that lava, I tell ya.”

I didn’t bother to answer. While I knew perfectly well what magic was capable of, the idea of channeling a volcano had never occurred to me. Kalli shivered next to me in excitement. Do you think Kiki is up there?

I followed her gaze to one of the towers.

She should be. That’s where they said they were going.